Noah Thompson, a 19-year-old construction worker from Louisa, Kentucky tried his hand at Cam’s “Burning House” on American Idol and ultimately earned a spot in the next round of the competition.
Thompson, who was forced to audition for Idol by a co-worker who truly believed in his musical talents, performed the Platinum selling country song after receiving advice from Idol alum, Lauren Alaina.
He also had a chance to speak with his co-worker and best friend, Arthur, who encouraged him to audition for the show.
“Just a few months ago, I could never imagine pursuing something like this,” Thompson admitted ahead of his performance. “If it weren’t for Arthur, I wouldn’t have ever signed up for this show.”
The Kentucky native then shared that his inspiration to keep going in the competition is not only his longtime friend but also his young son.
“I have a little boy, he just turned 7-months. I recently became a Dad, my little boy, he’s my strive for all this,” Thompson shared. “Blows my mind that I’m even here, this could give me the opportunity to give my son an entire new life, a better life.”
After his performance, Thompson took to social media to celebrate advancing to the next round on Idol.
“I made it to the next round! If you thought this round was intense, you won’t believe #Duets!” Thompson wrote. ”Tune in next Sunday and Monday to @AmericanIdol to see who makes it out of #HollywoodWeek and into the #Top24! Wish me luck!! 🤞#americanidol”
Thompson previously impressed the Idol judges with his audition, where he performed Kameron Marlowe’s “Giving You Up.” His audition was so impressive that it earned praise from Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.
“You got a real life, story-telling, badass voice,” Richie gushed at the time.
“You are the American Dream,” Perry added.
“You’re why this job is cool,” Bryan gushed. “We’re really, really excited you’re here.”
Following his audition, Kameron Marlowe surprised Thompson with a FaceTime call to celebrate him earning a golden ticket and advancing to Hollywood.
“I wanted to offer Noah the same kind of [experience] that Luke offered me, and I just told him to keep pursuing music and to keep writing and keep journeying on in this crazy business that we’re in,” Marlowe recently told Music Mayhem.
American Idol airs every Sunday and Monday at 8/7c EST on ABC.
